The present invention generally relates to systems and methods for presenting a display of content to an audience, and more particularly to a system and method for presenting a display of content accessed via a network such as the Internet, or the like, by one or more clients simultaneously with client browsing.
As use of the Internet becomes ubiquitous, presentations to groups involving the display of material on a web browser are becoming increasingly commonplace. In numerous situations, it is desirable to present a projection of a client""s display of content at the same time the client is browsing. In addition, in some circumstances it may be desirable to present a projection of a display of content from a designated at least one of a plurality of clients at any given time simultaneously with browsing by the client.
Simultaneous public display of content could be emulated by, for example, creating a single client application (e.g., a slide show) that emulates the behavior of client browsing, and then displaying that single client application publicly. Emulation, however, does not provide actual display of individual browser behavior under client control. Thus, emulation would not be a satisfactory solution where part of the value of the demonstration arises from observing content on an individual browser under actual client control.
Actual simultaneous public display could be achieved by operatively connecting a projector to a client system. Such solution, though, has limitations in requiring each client machine for which a display is desired to be operatively coupled to a projector at the time display is desired. In addition, such solution may not even be possible in cases where a particular client machine is limited in one way or another such that a projector may not be attached (e.g. where the client machine has no suitable output for sending the display of content to a projector).
With the proliferation of small hand held devices such as cellular telephones, palm computers, Web tablets, and the like capable of Internet access, it may be undesirable to project the same display of content provided by the client device. This is because the simplified display of content provided by such devices, due to their limited display capability, may be unsuitable or undesirable for large public display via a projector.
Consequently, it would be advantageous to provide a system and method for simultaneously projecting a display of content from a client without requiring the client to be directly operatively coupled to a projector wherein the display of content provided by that client device is not suitable, or is undesirable, for public presentation.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a system and method for the presentation of a display of content from at least one of a plurality of clients wherein the client is not required to be directly operatively coupled to a projector and wherein the display of content by that client device may not be not suitable, or desirable, for presentation to an audience.
In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, a system for displaying content accessed by a client to an audience via a projector is disclosed, wherein the content includes a client version suitable for access by clients and a projector version suitable for display by a projector. In an exemplary embodiment, the system includes a server coupled to the network capable of communication with the clients via the network and at least one projector capable of accessing the projector version of the content communicatively coupled to the server. Upon receiving a request from a client that one or more projectors display content accessed by the client, that is xe2x80x9cfollowxe2x80x9d the display of content by that client, the server thereafter monitors the browsing activity of the client, detecting when the client is accessing content via the network. When the client accesses the client version of the content, the server notifies the following projector(s) to access the projector component of the content via the network so the content may be displayed by the projector.
In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, a method for displaying content accessed by a client through a network via a projector is disclosed, wherein the content includes a client version suitable for access by clients and a projector version suitable for display by a projector. In an exemplary embodiment, a client provides a request to the server that one or more projector(s) display content accessed by the client, that is xe2x80x9cfollowxe2x80x9d the display of content by that client. The server thereafter monitors the browsing activity of that client for detecting when the client is accessing content via the network. When the client accesses content via the network, for example, the client version of that content, the server notifies the following projector(s) that the client is accessing the content. The following projector(s) access the projector version of the content via the network whereupon the content may be displayed by the projector(s).
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention and together with the general description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.